


Almost Like A Perfect Lie

by sunsetmagnolia



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Some angst, all fluff, bollywood au but only in concept?, happy ending obviously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:55:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24258532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunsetmagnolia/pseuds/sunsetmagnolia
Summary: Bollywood plagiarism, like genuinely that's exactly what it is, I'm just making it better. Strangers to fake dating to lovers? Basically I took a movie (Dostana) that I loved in middle school and picked apart the plot, erasing outdated casual homophobia and adding more fluff, so now instead of being a whole queerbaitey 2 hours, it's actually gay. It's like people who review recipes by saying they substituted something ridiculous for the flour and then complaining that it didn't work, except this does work. I watched the movie and said if organic gay pining is unavailable, store-bought is fine.This is entirely self-indulgent, but if any raised-on-bollywood kids like me who also like 5sos find something in it, I'd be tickled to know lmao
Relationships: Michael Clifford/Calum Hood
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

Michael was sick of couch-surfing. He needed a place to live for real, before his parents got so worried about him that they made him go back home. He could only claim to be fine for so long before he had to admit to himself that, yeah it would be nice to be able to fall asleep and wake up in the same place for more than a week at a time. It wasn’t like he didn’t have a perfectly well-paying job, and he hated it when people called him flaky because dammit he showed up when it really mattered. But he was nearly thirty. It was time to settle down. If not with a wife and kids, then at least in an apartment where he could finally get up in the morning and not worry about offending someone if he rolled out of bed without pants on.

Calum was happy for his roommates, truly he was, but it felt a bit unfair for them to claim this apartment after they eloped. Without telling him, no less. They claimed it was because they got drunk and they didn’t feel like planning a big wedding, and to be fair they were all the way out in Vegas for their anniversary, so inviting Calum out on short notice would have been pretty difficult. He forgave them. After all, he got over the fact that his sister and college roommate got together, so it wasn’t exactly shocking when they called him the next morning (4 pm his time, which was technically afternoon for them too but he assumed they slept in) to tell him the news. Now the only problem was that they were less than two weeks from renewing their lease and either Calum had to find a new place to live or commit to living with the happy couple for a whole additional year.

Michael woke up in yet another bed, but at least this time he wasn’t alone. He turned over to see a girl, Kayla maybe? Kayley? Kylie? Regardless, she was as gorgeous as she had been last night when she eyed him up at a bar and then practically dragged him back to her apartment. He turned over and checked the time on his phone, luckily he wasn’t running late. But he would be if he hung out here waiting for her to wake up. It wasn’t his usual style to ditch a girl before a second round, but he had traded shifts with someone at work who wanted the day off to go see her kid’s school play or something so he didn’t really have a choice. He got up and pulled on his hoodie, glancing over a set of texts from his mom asking whether he had found a new apartment yet and hoping he wasn’t doing anything stupid and saying she loves him and hopes he has a good day.

Wandering out into the main apartment, he figured he should eat something before he went to work. He managed to find cereal and a bowl and spoon. Cheerios. The availability could have been worse. He poured himself a bowl and took it out to a little table on the balcony. He was alone with his thoughts for a good five minutes before he heard someone open the sliding glass door. He looked up, expecting it to be the girl. Instead it was a man, about his age he guessed, absolutely ripped, wearing only boxers and holding a glass of juice. He sat down in the other chair. “Hi,” Michael said cautiously.

“Hey,” the other guy replied, casual.

“I’m Michael.”

“Calum.”

Michael snorted. “I know.”

Calum put his glass down on the table. “You _know_?”

Michael smirked to himself, putting down his spoon and leaning back in the chair. “Oh, Calum,” he moaned exaggeratedly, running one of his hands through his hair for good measure. “Calum, oh my god, fuck, Calum.” He sat back up and smiled. Calum held his composure, but pursed his lips the smallest amount. Michael counted it as a victory. “Calum,” he said, pointing to him.

Calum scoffed. “Nice to meet you too.”

“Almost feels like we’ve already met.” He shoved the last spoonful of cereal into his mouth. “Anyway, I gotta get to work.”

“Have fun,” Calum called after him as he walked back inside.

Michael went downstairs and thanked god the bar he had been at last night was next door to this girl’s apartment because he didn’t have time to remember where he had left his car. He got in, did a quick change into his scrubs, and went to work.

Calum walked into his apartment, tossing his keys in the bowl by the door. He was milliseconds away from kicking off his shoes when his sister yelled his name. “I wasn’t gonna leave them in the hall!” he yelled back.

“No shut up.” She walked in from the other room. “I heard from a friend that one of her sorority sisters’ new neighbors is looking for a roommate. She sent me the address and it’s right on the beach, it looks incredible, and since it’s a sublet the rent will be lower than trying to find a place all for yourself.”

Calum had to stop himself from giving her a sarcastic reply about looking at it later. He knew she was happy, and even slightly hungover he couldn’t deny that his self-set deadline was coming up fast. He had procrastinated looking at apartments so long, remembering the tragic state of some of the places he’d seen when he first moved out here before they found this one. The thought of doing it all over again made him want to crawl in bed and never come out, but he couldn’t be the third wheel for the rest of his life. There was only so much a white noise machine could cover up.

“It looks kinda fancy, actually,” she said, looking at him hopefully. “You might wanna check it out before someone else goes and sweeps it up.”

“Fine,” he conceded. “Send me the address, I’ll go take a look after my 1 o’clock shoot.”


	2. Chapter 2

Michael had his nose in his phone, staring intently at the walking directions as he tried to figure out which way was west. He didn’t know why it wasn’t saying to turn left or right, and he was trying not to get frustrated by it all. He had seen a local forum post saying someone wanted a roommate for their new apartment (beachfront!) and he was not about to let an opportunity like that slip away just because he couldn’t figure out where the fucking building was. The map said he was three minutes away. He would have parked right outside the building, but some smooth fucker in a black sports car had pulled in moments before he could, so he had to settle for a parking structure a block away.

He finally found the building and checked the post again for the room number. 16-C. He ran for the elevator. Luckily the person inside was paying more attention than him and held the door. Michael sighed, catching his breath and sticking his phone in his pocket. He looked up and around at the glossy elevators. He could get used to this. All mirrors and gold, and one wall of black wood. If he was alone he would have snapped a selfie. But he wasn’t alone. He looked in the reflection at the other person, and whipped his head around. “Calum?”

Calum, who had also been absorbed with his phone, looked up. “Michael.” Calum was wearing a short sleeved button down and tight jeans, which was significantly more clothing than he’d had on that morning, but managed to still look fit.

“Nice place,” Michael said, wishing the elevator would move faster but also maybe a little distracted by Calum’s arms.

“Yeah, it’s sick.”

Like a godsend, the elevator dinged. Calum was as surprised as Michael when they both stepped outside at the same floor.

“16 C?” Michael asked.

Calum froze. “You’re the person looking for a new roommate?”

“No, are you?”

“No, I was trying to get the empty room.”

Michael let his shoulders drop. “Okay, yeah, same. Wait. We’re trying to get the same room?”

“Looks like we are.”

“Rock, paper, scissors?”

“No way. Let the best man win.”

Michael didn’t want to be the first to break eye contact, it felt like some kind of power play, but Calum marched toward the door and Michael could only follow. He tugged on the strings of his hoodie nervously. It wasn’t like he didn’t think he stood a chance, at the very least he was friendlier than Calum on the surface. But if this tenant was picky about anything… what if they judged him on his decision to wear shorts? It was an apartment on the beach, but that didn’t mean people who lived in penthouses wouldn’t have outrageously high standards. Maybe he should have worn jeans. Calum pressed the doorbell. Michael lifted his head. He would just have to turn on the charm.

“Come in!” a cheerful voice called out from inside. Michael and Calum exchanged a glance before Michael pushed the door open. They were greeted by a wide open living room with huge windows that overlooked the beach, a wall lined with shelves of knickknacks and picture frames surrounding a massive tv, and a tiny woman who looked like she wanted them both to disappear on the spot. Michael tried not to look as terrified as he felt. “Who are you?” she asked, voice still cheery but eyes throwing daggers.

“We came to look at the apartment,” Calum said, steady as ever.

“Well you’ve seen it, now you can leave.”

Michael and Calum looked at each other again. “No,” Michael said slowly. “We saw you were looking for a roommate and—"

“Oh it’s not my apartment, it’s for my darling goddaughter.”

“Right, so we—”

“Maybe you missed the part where I said I was looking for _girls_ to take the two empty rooms.” She tilted her head and smiled.

“I don’t remember seeing that,” Calum said, suddenly sounding less sure of himself.

“After all, it’s about my darling’s safety and integrity.”

“Of course,” Michael said.

“So, goodbye!” She waved at them, and they could only back away out the front door.

Michael was walking back to his car, not looking forward to having to ask his friend to let him crash yet another night. Maybe he could go back to staying in a hotel for a couple weeks. He could afford it. But he got lonely, and always overdid it on the room service. No, it was a waste of money and calories. If he stayed in an actual apartment, the midnight ice cream would stop at the bottom of the tub and not when the vending machine was out. “Michael!” He stopped and turned around. Calum was jogging to catch up to him.

“Did you hear what she said?” Calum asked. “There are two rooms.”

“Yeah, I also heard her say she only wanted girl tenants,” Michael said, turning around. They kept walking. “So, why are you so desperate for a place to live?”

“I’m not desperate,” Calum said. Michael was looking down at the sidewalk but he could picture Calum puffing out his chest defensively. “I’m living with my sister and my friend and they went and got married so now they want the apartment to themselves. What about you?”

“Ex-girlfriend threw me out back in January and I’ve been couch surfing ever since.”

“That’s rough, that’s almost six months.”

“It’s whatever.” Michael shrugged.

“What did you do?”

Michael rolled his eyes. He was not about to get into this with a total stranger. At least not sober. “I caught her cheating on me.”

“And she kicked _you_ out? That sucks.”

“Story of my life.”

Calum was quiet for another minute as they walked, and right as they got to the entrance of the parking garage, he stopped.

“My car’s up there,” Michael said. “I’ll see you later.”

“No, wait,” Calum said distantly. Michael followed his gaze to a big poster for Miami pride plastered on the side of the building. “You’re gonna think I’m crazy,” he said slowly.

Michael blinked, looking back at Calum. “What?”

“She said she didn’t want her goddaughter living with men because of safety and honor or whatever, so what if we weren’t a threat to her safety?”

“What?”

“What if we were just one of the girls?”

“What?” Michael couldn’t find a better word to express the amount of question marks flying through his mind.

“If she doesn’t want us living with a girl because she’s scared we’ll, I don’t know, deflower her or something, then if we were a couple, we wouldn’t be a threat anymore, would we?”

“That is the most closed-minded bullshit I’ve ever heard in my life.”

“I know that, and you know that, but if that old woman isn’t progressive enough to understand that men and women can live together and be friends without anything happening, then she probably doesn’t.”

“Or she’s just protective of her goddaughter.”

“Or if we walked up there holding hands and explained that we’re into each other and not her darling goddaughter, then she might be more open to letting us live there.”

“You’re obviously more desperate than me, so go tell her you’re gay by yourself.”

“She won’t believe me by myself, she’ll think I’m lying to get the room.”

“Which you are.”

“Okay listen, it’s either this or I have to go back hearing my sister have sex every night through the thin walls of my apartment, and I don’t know if I can take another year of that.”

“I’ll buy you noise-cancelling headphones.”

“They’re so uncomfortable to sleep in,” Calum whined.

“I’m leaving.”

“No, listen, what if we tell the godmother the lie and tell the goddaughter the truth? That way we’re not really lying, and if the goddaughter doesn’t want us living there, then we didn’t want to live there anyway.”

Michael paused, back to messing with the strings on his hoodie. “What if she doesn’t believe us?”

“Then we part as unlikely friends,” Calum said. “Please. You were right, I am desperate.”


	3. Chapter 3

Calum and Michael were standing outside 16-C again, this time, hand in hand. Holding hands hadn’t been part of the plan, but Michael wouldn’t stop fiddling with his hoodie strings and it was making Calum nervous, so he took Michael’s hand in his and silenced him with a look right before ringing the doorbell.

The woman answered the door this time, and her face fell as soon as she recognized them. “Didn’t I tell you I’m only looking for girls?”

“Sorry, I don’t think you understand, um, can we come in?” Calum asked. He considered making a show of them holding hands, but Michael’s grip on him was like a vice and Calum felt bad turning it into a show for the neighbors to see too and not just a lie for their future roommate’s protective godmother. The woman made a face like she didn’t believe him, but she stepped aside, and Calum pulled Michael in behind him, walking all the way out into the living room. “The thing is, you don’t have to worry about us not being girls.”

“What do you mean?”

“Me and Michael, we’re together.”

“I see that.” She was looking at us, and if looks could kill I’m sure we’d be piles of dust on the floor.

“I mean, we’re, uh, more than friends?”

“So you’re best friends? And that’s supposed to make me feel okay with letting you live here?”

She was not understanding. “No, Michael and I are—”

“Boyfriends,” Michael blurted. Calum glanced at him before returning his attention to the woman. Suddenly she seemed to get it.

“Oh.”

Calum didn’t want to push it, after all this woman looked pretty old, the last thing he wanted was to be the cause of her heart attack.

“Yeah, we’re gay,” Michael said.

Calum tried to elbow him, forgetting they were still holding hands. All it did was swing their hands forward so the woman could see. He gave her a nervous smile before dropping Michael’s hand.

“I see.”

“So you don’t have to worry about your goddaughter’s safety either,” Calum said.

“Yeah, obviously he works out,” Michael added.

Calum hoped his confusion wasn’t showing on his face.

The woman exhaled. “We’ll have to see how my goddaughter feels about all this. I’m not perfectly happy with it, but if she’s okay then we can talk.”

“So when do we get to meet her?” Calum asked.

“Rose?” the woman asked.

“Yeah Aunt Tish?” a voice called in from the front door.

“Ah, perfect timing,” the woman said. “Rosy Posy, there are some people here I want you to meet.”

Rose walked into the room, looking the picture of the type of person Calum had imagined would live in an apartment like this. She was beautiful, with dark hair that fell past her shoulders and a small, curious smile dancing across her face. She was wearing shiny bracelets on one hand and had a leather portfolio folder in the other.

“Are you an artist?” Calum asked.

“Not exactly, I work for a magazine,” Rose replied. She narrowed her eyes in confusion and tapped her aunt on the shoulder. “Who’s this?”

“They’re here asking about the extra rooms.”

“But they’re men?” Rose gave Michael and Calum a glance up and down, but it felt more judgmental than like she was checking them out.

“Can you give us a minute to talk?” Michael asked. “Sorry, excuse us.” He grabbed Calum’s shoulder and pushed him in the direction of one of the empty bedrooms. “We can’t live here,” he whispered as soon as the door was closed.

Calum looked around the room, already imagining where his photography stuff could go. “What do you mean?”

“Did you see her?”

“Who, Rose?”

“Yeah, she’s fucking hot. We can’t live here.”

“Why? Because you can’t keep it in your pants?”

“No, because what if she’s also really nice? What if we decide right now that neither of us will sleep with her but then we both fall in love with her instead? Then what?”

“Then we figure it out then!” Calum was still whispering but he felt like he was shouting.

“That’s not a risk I want to take,” Michael said in his regular voice, but still quiet.

“I promise when me and Rose fall in love we won’t kick you out,” Calum teased.

“That won’t happen if her aunt is out there right now telling her we’re gay.”

“So that’s just one more person we have to lie to.”

“I’m not going to pretend to be gay in front of a girl like that.”

“Then you’re gonna be homeless instead.”

“Fine, I’m leaving.”

“Michael!” Calum said, much closer to shouting.

Michael pulled open the door and Rose was standing on the other side, hand raised like she was about to knock. “I just thought I’d show you the rooms, while you’re in here?” She held out her hand to Michael. “I’m Rose, by the way.”

“Michael.” He shook her hand and stepped back so she could walk in. If Calum hadn’t seen him look at him the same way he was looking at her, he would have said Michael was being obvious about thinking she was hot. Not that he was wrong.

“I’m Calum.”

She smiled at him and then looked around the empty room. “Well, this is one of the bedrooms. Each room is a thousand a month.” She walked over to a door that Calum had assumed was a closet and opened it to a bathroom. “Bathroom’s in here, and the other bedroom is through there. Both rooms have to share one.” She pointed to a door at the other end of the bathroom. “The bedrooms look mostly the same, but that one gets more light.”

“I’ll take that one,” Michael said quickly.

Rose turned to look at him, surprised. “Oh, I thought you’d be sharing a room. I didn’t mean to assume…”

“No, I just like having my own space, that’s all,” Michael said. He looked at Calum, daring him to argue. Calum said nothing.

“Okay, it’ll be double the rent if you take both rooms but if that’s what you want, then great, I won’t have to keep looking for another tenant.”

“Great!” Michael said.

“Do you guys have any questions?”

“Are you single?” Calum muttered under his breath, if only to get a rise out of Michael. It worked. Michael smacked him in the stomach. Luckily Rose didn’t hear what Calum said.

Aunt Tish walked into the room. “So, what have we decided?”

Rose smiled. “They said they’ll take both rooms!”

“Lovely! So what do you boys do?”

“I’m a photographer,” Calum replied.

“And I’m a nurse at Regional,” Michael said.

“And how long have you been together?”

“Three years,” Calum said, thinking of how long he’d been living in the city in case the lie ever popped up later.

“Aww, how did you meet?”

Calum and Michael looked at each other, and Calum was about to make up something quippy and funny but Michael spoke first. “We met in Paris.” Calum’s eyes widened, but everyone was looking at Michael so no one noticed. “I was on vacation, and he was on some photojournalism assignment. I ran into him, quite literally, while I was rushing to get to a date with some guy I ran into on a group tour. I was carrying flowers, we crashed into each other, roses went flying. He started to help me pick them up but the wind was strong and all the rose petals were flying away so I told him to let them go and I never made it to that date. And then for the next few days we kept running into each other, at cafes or at tourist spots. Until my last day there, he told me it was his last day too, and that we should make the most of it. I lied and said I hadn’t had a chance to go up the Eiffel Tower yet so he took me up and gave me a rose, like the ones I dropped when we first met. And then he kissed me.”

Calum stared at him, slack jawed. On one hand, it was believable. On the other hand, was it? Michael finally looked back at Calum, grinning abashedly.

“That’s so sweet?” Rose sighed. “I could cry.”

“Welcome to the house!” Aunt Tish said, wrapping Calum in a hug.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, as Michael was unloading his car, he realized two things. One, that Calum had his life together enough to warrant renting a U-Haul to move his things, and two, that Calum was the driver of the black car that had stolen his parking spot the day before. Now that they were officially residents, they could park in the resident lot and not worry about having to look for street-side, but yesterday didn’t make him any less of an asshole. At least his mother had been thrilled that he had finally found a real place to live again. He met Calum at the front door to the building and they rolled their things on carts into the elevator and up to the sixteenth floor.

They decided to set up one room at a time, and since Michael had to wait on a bedframe to get delivered by the end of the week, Rose joined them in setting up Calum’s room first, and then when they got around to Michael’s it was mostly him being picky about the setup of his computer and gaming system.

They all happened to have the weekend off work so the next morning they went for brunch at a place that Rose recommended. They learned that Rose worked for a local fashion magazine and that she was gunning for a promotion following rumors that her current boss was about to retire. As for the apartment, she had bought it outright with money left to her from her parents plus a loan, but then the loan had to be paid back sooner than the promotion had come, hence the roommate search.

Michael was doing as much as he could to avoid having to explain any more about his alleged relationship with Calum to Rose or anyone else, and since they hadn’t established themselves as big into PDA when they first met, that was not part of the act they had to keep up. He tried his best to act the same with Calum as with any of his friends, but he quickly realized they had a lot more in common than any of his other friends. They liked all the same music, including bands that Rose called cringey, and Calum played some of the same video games that Michael liked to get into on his nights off. They were starting to be somewhat of a duo in that regard.

When Rose wasn’t busy bonding with Calum over photography and artsy things, she had become invested in teaching Michael how to cook. She had made him watch Ratatouille twice, and he was starting to understand that she didn’t want to hear him complain when she insisted that anyone can cook. She had told him the initial goal was spaghetti, but when Calum argued that heating things up that come from bottles and cans isn’t the same as actually cooking, she raised the bar and wanted to teach Michael how to make a stir fry. It was a long process, and one that they were still in the middle of.

Rose also introduced them to her favorite bar, and subsequently they learned that Calum could drink them under the table. Michael gave up after he lost track of how many shots he’d had. Rose had long since switched from shots to something blue and fruity that looked like it would have been delicious if Michael didn’t feel his stomach turn at the idea of drinking more. Calum was suddenly everyone’s best friend at the bar, and when Michael heard him say he wished there was karaoke, it was time to go home. Rose turned out to be the most sober after all, so when they walked home, leaning on her for support despite them both being taller than her, Michael felt something warm in his chest. Past the alcohol and laughter and the wind blowing Rose’s hair into his mouth, he finally started to feel like he knew what real friendship was like again.

One night, Rose and Calum had convinced Michael to watch a scary movie with them, and Michael refused to admit he didn’t like scary movies. It was just as much to impress Rose as it was to prove to Calum that he could be just as stubborn and tough. He made it through the movie in one piece, and Rose had picked up on how jumpy he was and made them both hot chocolates before they went to bed, but Michael was still anxious. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw things moving in the shadows of his room. He knew it didn’t make sense. He wrapped his duvet around his shoulders like a cape and walked through the bathroom to peek his head into Calum’s room. Calum was asleep on his bed, breathing evenly. Michael took a deep breath. “Psst.” No response. “Calum,” he whispered. Still nothing. He crept over to the bed and knelt down on the floor so his face was level to Calum’s, and then reached out and poked his cheek. It was tempting enough in the daytime but how was he supposed to get away with it then? Calum just moved one of his hands in his sleep to swipe at his cheek. “Calum,” Michael repeated, a little louder. Calum blinked his eyes open slowly, and then nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Jesus fuck, Michael what are you doing??”

Michael shushed him. “You made me watch a fucking scary movie and now I can’t sleep.”

“How is that my problem?”

Michael bit the inside of his lip and looked at him.

Calum sighed. “Stop pouting. Come sleep.” He patted the empty side of the bed and pulled his sheets over himself. Michael happily obliged. He didn’t know what he expected but Calum’s pillows smelled exactly like Calum, and that was enough to keep the shadows at bay.

Calum had been watching Michael pace back and forth for the last ten minutes while talking to his mom on the phone. Rose had just walked in, but now she was witnessing it too. Finally Michael stopped moving. “Okay, bye mum, love you.” He let out a groan as he fell onto the couch beside Calum. “She’s too much sometimes.”

“She’s your mom,” Rose said.

“Sure, and I do love her, but she worried about me so much. I mean, I told her I was learning to cook and she didn’t believe it. And she keeps asking me when I’m gonna meet a nice girl and settle down and I’m like, mom I’m only 27 there’s still time.”

Rose looked up from her phone. “You mean she doesn’t know about you two?”

Calum looked at Michael, silently begging him not to say anything incriminating.

“No,” Michael said. “She’s a bit more conservative and I guess I’m scared to.”

Calum shook his head in relief. “So Rose, if Michael and I weren’t a thing, would you still have let us live with you?”

“Like, if you weren’t gay?” Rose laughed. “I’d be open to it but my aunt wouldn’t be. And my parents wouldn’t have liked it either.”

“Your parents?” Michael asked, sitting up.

Rose hummed solemnly. “They died when I was little. My aunt basically raised me, but any time I make a big decision I think about what my parents would have wanted for me.”

“And what would they think of us?” Calum asked.

“Well, they’d probably think you’re sweet, and they would have liked that you guys look out for me, but I’m sure my mom would have been disappointed that neither of you are available for me.”

“Well I’d tell her we’re the same as any other men.” Michael put an arm around Calum. “Just your regular Skywalkers.”

“Skywalkers?” Calum repeated.

“Luke Skywalker?” Michael clarified.

“I know who he is, but what does he have to do with anything?”

“Luke was gay.”

Rose burst out laughing. Calum was glad Michael managed to lighten the mood, but he was still confused. “What do you mean?”

“Have you not seen the movies? Luke was gay. Mark Hamill said so.”

“He wasn’t gay.”

“He was so gay.”

“You guys are ridiculous,” Rose said, still laughing as she left the room, both pairs of eyes on her.


	5. Chapter 5

“Hey Calum?” Michael asked nervously, standing in Calum’s doorway.

“Yeah?”

“Rose was saying earlier, if I want to get permanent residency sooner, that we should get married.”

Calum swung his chair around from where he had been editing photos at his desk. “We what?”

“It’ll take less than half the time if I file as part of a couple rather than by myself.”

“You’ve been living here for this long without filing for permanent residency?”

“I mean I'm here on a work visa but what happens if I want to change jobs or something?”

“That’s so much work.”

“Well?”

“Michael Clifford, are you proposing to me?” Calum was smirking.

It didn’t help Michael’s nerves. “Shut up, I just wanted to see if you’d do it.”

“Honestly? Then we’d be lying legally. Not just to a couple of people. You’d be okay with that?”

“I don’t know, it’s just been on my mind since Rose and I talked about it. And it’s not like I can marry her. Plus it’s not like we’re actually together, so we’ll file for divorce in a couple years after I can stay here on my own legally.”

“So you’re thinking like courthouse wedding?”

“I guess so?”

“I know who our second witness can be.”

Calum was sitting in a chair in Starbucks, glancing up at the door every time it opened.

“I can’t believe you’ve never introduced me to your sister,” Michael said. “What’s the story we’re telling her again?”

“The truth,” Calum muttered.

“That we’re in love?” Michael asked, blinking flirtatiously over his coffee.

“Fuck off.”

“Watch your mouth, there are babies in here.”

Calum glanced around. “There literally are not.”

In arguing with Michael he missed his sister walking in. She gave Calum a hug from behind him before sitting down in the empty chair.

Calum smiled. “Michael, Mali.”

Mali smiled at Michael politely and then turned to Calum. “You promised me coffee.”

Calum sighed and got up.

“No whip,” she said, not turning around. Calum watched the two of them chat as he waited in line. He hadn’t been lying when he said he’d told Mali the truth, but she knew a bit more than that. He also knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t say anything he didn’t want her to, but still, he was antsy. He fumbled through the coffee order and went back to his seat while he waited for his name to be called, seeing how he’d be the one forced to get back up to retrieve it.

“Mali tells me you used to play soccer,” Michael said as Calum sat back down.

“I did,” he said, wondering how the topic came up and hoping it wasn’t in the most cloyingly obvious way.

“Says you were actually pretty good.”

“I guess I was.”

“What happened?”

Calum looked at his sister, who said nothing, just smiling like she knew more than she let on. “I realized I liked photography more. I could do more with it.”

Michael nodded thoughtfully, and to Calum’s surprise, when his name was called Michael got up.

“He’s sweet,” Mali said quietly when Michael got to the counter. Calum rolled his eyes. “I already told you I support you no matter what nonsense you get into, but this isn’t a one and done thing. I’m not just talking about getting married, I mean immigration agents are going to be knocking on your door every now and then for a year or two and you have to be able to convince them you’re still together. It’s not a lie for one person anymore. I don’t want you to get carried away.”

Calum sighed. “I know you’re concerned, but I’m a big boy I can make my own decisions.”

“I’m assuming this goes on the list of things we’re not telling mom?”

“Thank you.”

“What do you mean your boss is coming to dinner?” Michael asked.

“I’m sorry,” Rose replied. “It was the only thing I could think of. I mentioned to him that I’m living with two men and he got slutshamey, but then I mentioned you’re both gay and he turned into a slut himself. It almost gave me whiplash. But I really want this promotion so I’m trying to be as nice to him as possible. Please, please say you’ll be home?”

Calum looked at Michael over Rose’s shoulder, mouthing the word no.

Michael groaned threw his arms up in defeat, earning a scowl from Calum. “Fine, I guess that’s fine, we’ll be here.”

“Thank you so much.” Rose stood up on her tiptoes to give Michael a kiss on the cheek, making his ears feel very warm. “I’ll cook.”

As decided, Michael, Rose, and Calum met Mali at the courthouse to get their marriage license. Michael had let Rose talk him into getting a little more dressed up than normal, and apparently she had convinced Calum as well. Michael had pulled on a light blue button down and jeans instead of his usual joggers, but Calum was wearing a crisp white dress shirt and black jeans, complete with a black tie that kind of made Michael dizzy if he thought about it too much. He blamed it on the stunt they were about to pull.

The wedding, if only by technical name, was thankfully not a very public affair, in that it was just the four of them and the officiant in the window. She asked if they wanted to do the full wedding or just sign the papers, and before Rose could suggest any pomp, Michael and Calum said they just wanted to sign the papers, thanks. Rose had gone this long not seeing them kiss, she already assumed they weren’t into PDA, and Michael was not about to plant one on Calum under these strange circumstances. They filled out the papers, and loaded back into Calum’s car to go back home.

“You didn’t want to do the whole ‘you may now kiss the bride’ thing?” Rose teased, climbing into the backseat.

“Not in front of people,” Michael mumbled, avoiding eye contact with Calum.

“Well, now there are no people.”

Rose was grinning at them expectantly. If that wasn’t bad enough, he could feel Calum’s eyes on him, and the blood rushed to his cheeks.

“Oh, come on, do you want me to close my eyes?”

“No?” Michael started to say, but then Calum leaned over from the driver’s side, cupping Michael’s jaw and placing a soft kiss on his cheek. Michael turned to look at him, and Calum had the nerve to give him a wink before reversing out of the parking spot while Rose giggled and cheered.


	6. Chapter 6

Calum knocked on Michael’s door and walked in before getting permission, but this was important. “I got a letter from the immigration office.”

“You did?” Michael asked, pulling off his headphones.

“Yeah, it says our application has been accepted pending an in-home interview.” He held out the paper to Michael, who read over it.

“It doesn’t say when the interview will be.”

“Guess we just have to stay on our toes.”

Staying on their toes couldn’t have come at a worse time. Rose’s boss, who went by Z, had showed up for dinner in a very fitted suit and a Burberry scarf, and although Rose had explained to him that her roommates were in fact married, he couldn’t keep his hands off Calum. It had started as very obvious flirting from across the room, but before Michael could place the reason his stomach was twisting, Z was touching Calum’s arms and leaning in a little too close when he laughed. Rose had tried to distract them with drinks, but the wine was only making it worse.

“You’re okay with him doing that?” Rose had asked Michael in a whisper as she dashed back and forth trying to make her boss as comfortable as possible.

Michael had just shrugged, but what was he supposed to do? Calum had gone from looking visibly uncomfortable to accepting the flirting as witty banter and bouncing it back in equal measures. Michael couldn’t tell whether he was supposed to step in to save Calum or to preserve Rose’s façade of her roommates being gay and apparently open.

The doorbell rang when they were half a bottle of wine down, before dinner had even started. Calum was too busy holding Z’s attention, so Michael went to answer the door. The man on the other side was wearing a dark blue suit and had a name tag that read “Tom Brown, Immigration.” Michael’s heart dropped to his stomach.

“Hello,” Tom said.

“Hi?”

“I’m here for an interview with Michael Clifford and Calum Hood?”

“Um, I’m Michael, but we expected you to come by during the day, we kind of have a guest over for dinner?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t reschedule unless it’s an emergency,” Tom stated. He took a small step forward. “Are you going to let me in?”

Michael clenched his jaw and pulled the door open all the way. He dashed out into the living room ahead of Tom. “Calum, our immigrations guy is here.” He tried his best to sound casual, but Z was still clinging onto Calum’s arm.

Calum and Z turned around at the same time that Rose walked back in from the kitchen. They all looked at Michael. “This is Tom, he’s here from the immigration office? For our interview?”

Michael watched Calum’s face as understanding set in. Calum tugged his arm out of Z’s grasp, this time with no resistance. “Hi,” Calum said, breaking the silence.

“It’s called an interview,” Tom said. “It’s really just a check-in. I won’t be asking too many questions. Don’t worry, I’m not staying for dinner.”

“Cool,” Rose said slowly, backing into the kitchen, throwing Michael a panicked look.

Michael returned it with a shrug that hopefully got across that he was just as surprised as she was.

“So,” Z said to Michael, carrying on as if Tom wasn’t there. “Calum was saying you’re new here?”

“Yeah,” Michael replied. “I’m from Australia.”

“And what do you do here?”

“I’m a nurse.”

Z’s eyes narrowed on Michael, seemingly losing all interest in Calum and his arms.

“Hey!” Rose jumped back into the room. “How about we turn on some music?”

That was the second point in the night where Michael could feel everything going downhill. When Z held out his hands and Michael turned down a dance, Z had sighed and turned back to Calum, who gave Michael a despairing look as Z swung him around outrageously. Rose, who at any other time would have been laughing, was speechless. She was holding her glass of wine and looking over the pair as the music rose to a crescendo. Calum looked so desperate that Michael downed the rest of his wine like a shot and took Calum’s outstretched hand, letting himself be pulled into the mess. Calum was still facing Z, but Michael put his arms on Calum’s hips as they danced, starting to enjoy the feeling of not worrying about how this godforsaken interview was going, and blaming the flips of his stomach on how quickly he had finished his drink. He caught a glimpse of Tom out of the corner of his eye, jotting something down on his clipboard, smiling. Calum spun around to face Michael instead, and suddenly their faces were centimetres apart, breathing heavily. When the song faded out, they both paused and started laughing. Z stepped back, looking resigned.

The next day, Calum came home to Rose curled up on a chair, sobbing. Calum almost forgot about his camera and dropped his bag on the ground in his rush to her. He sat on the arm of the chair and put a tentative hand on her back. “What’s wrong?”

“Fucking Z retired and hired a whole other asshole to take his place,” she sniffed angrily.

“What a dick.”

“God, I know, I’m so glad I’ll never have to see him again.”

“Me too,” Calum said under his breath. “But you know, maybe a better offer will come along?”

Rose looked up at him with her sad eyes and Calum felt his heart break a little. “Better than executive director?”

“Maybe a better magazine altogether.” He smiled softly.

“Do you think Vogue is hiring?” Rose asked.

Calum reached over to the table to hand her the tissue box before brushing her hair out of her face. “You never know.”

Rose grabbed a tissue and wove her arms around Calum’s waist, leaning on him as she continued to sniffle.

Two days later, it was Michael who came home to find an emotional Rose, but this time she was angry. “Whatcha doing with the hammer there?” Michael asked cautiously, heading to his room to change.

“Do you have anything old I can break?” She was holding the hammer in the air in a worrying way, but her nose was wrinkled with determination in a way Michael could only call cute.

“I have a pair of old headphones that stopped working, I was gonna see if I could get them fixed but this seems more important?” He dropped his bag in his room and returned with the headphones. “Do you wanna take them out on the balcony maybe?”

“Good idea.”

“Do you wanna tell me what’s wrong?”

“You assume something is wrong?” she asked, feigning innocence. She turned on her heel toward the balcony door. “My new boss, Mr. Holier-than-thou wants me to redesign the whole magazine before the next issue. Reformat it. Give it a _fresh look_. All in two fucking weeks.” She placed the headphones on the ground and then knelt next to them, considering her approach for a whole second before smashing the hammer down on top of them. The angle caused the plastic back of one of the ears to shatter, and the headphones themselves to go flying through the balcony railing and down sixteen floors, hopefully not hitting anyone. Michael and Rose followed the headphones with their eyes until it fell down, and then looked back at each other. Michael was holding back a laugh, but Rose let out a strangled groan.

“Is your arm okay?” Michael asked, noticing a spot of red that wasn’t there before.

Rose looked down and dropped the hammer. “Stupid plastic cut my arm.” She stood up, careful to avoid any more headphone slivers on the ground. Suddenly her anger was gone and she looked so small and sad that Michael wanted to wrap her up like a baby bird. Michael reached into one of his pockets to find a bandaid. It was a bad habit, stuffing them in his pockets at the start of each shift instead of grabbing a few at a time like he was supposed to, but he used them so often that it made more sense to cut down on trips for supplies. After all, that’s what pockets were made for. Michael made her hold her arm out while he stuck the bandaid on and then she started crying. He instinctively opened his arms up for a hug. “I hate everything but you right now,” she sobbed into his chest, and he stood there stroking her hair until she felt better, wondering if she felt nearly as soft inside as he did.


	7. Chapter 7

“Michael is right,” Calum said. They were sitting sprawled out on the beach. “You can do it. You’re perfectly capable of doing the impossible. And I’m not even being sarcastic.”

“See? I’m right,” Michael said.

“A rare occurrence,” Calum quipped, making Rose half smile.

“You come up with the ideas, he’ll take the photos.”

“And you?” Calum asked.

“I’m the model, obviously.” Michael struck a dramatic pose and this time Rose laughed.

“It just wasn’t part of the plan,” Rose said, taking a drink of her beer.

“What was the plan?”

“I mean, I thought I’d be the director of the whole magazine by now, I also thought I’d be in a long term relationship with someone like you guys.”

“Like us how?” Calum pressed. Michael shot him a look, but Calum ignored it.

“Tall, hot, thoughtful, caring,” Rose listed.

“You think I’m hot?” Michael asked, sounding surprised, like he didn’t have an accurate measure of that himself.

“Have you seen yourself?” Rose retorted.

“Whatever. Fuck plans,” Michael said. “My plans didn’t work out but here I am living right by the beach with the best girl in the world.” Calum wanted to kick him.

“What were your plans?” Rose asked.

“I wanted to be a famous musician.” This was news to Calum. “I wanted to tour the world and be surrounded by screaming fans.”

“Obviously that didn’t happen,” Calum said, earning him an indignant look from Michael.

“Oh, look who has the perfect life, I’m sure you’ve wanted to be a photographer since you were little?”

“Well,” Calum started. Technically, he had wanted to be a photographer for years, enough to make him give up on soccer in high school. He just happened to get good enough at freelancing that he didn’t need to fall back on anything. It was mostly luck.

“Oh, fuck you,” Michael said. He dropped his empty beer bottle in the sand and stood up, holding a hand out to Rose. “Come on, let’s go somewhere and be losers together without Mr. Perfect.” Rose took his hand and stood up, shaking the sand off the backs of her legs.

“Stop,” Calum laughed as he stood up too. “Look, my life is only perfect because you two are in it, okay?”

“I thought I was the cheesy one,” Michael mumbled as Calum pulled him and Rose in for a group hug.

They made their way back up to the apartment. Calum wished them goodnight and went to his room first, leaving the door open a crack so he could eavesdrop.

“I hope I don’t get fired tomorrow for mouthing off to my boss,” Rose said.

“If he fires you,” Michael replied, “I’ll send Calum in to fight him. He’s gotta put those arms to use eventually.”

Calum got up the next morning and almost tripped on his way out of his bedroom. The floor was covered with magazine pages and photos, some of which he recognized as his own work. “Rose?” he asked. She was sitting on the floor in the middle of all the papers, writing out sticky notes and rearranging the ones closest to her.

“Yeah?” She looked up. There was a smudge of sharpie on her cheek. He decided not to mention it.

“What the fuck?” He gestured to the room in general. “How’s a person supposed to get to the kitchen to have breakfast if the whole room looks like this?”

“With agility,” Michael called from the dining table where he was sitting with his legs crossed in his chair, drinking coffee.

“I have an idea,” Rose said, drawing Calum’s attention back to her. Her eyes were sparkling.

Calum cleared his calendar for the next week while Rose was on the phone with her contacts at different modeling agencies. Michael dug up the number for a record producer in LA who happened to be working with an up-and-comer whose name was buzzing around the radio sphere. Apparently he was telling the truth about wanting to be a famous musician. The whole time Rose was setting up interviews and photoshoots, Calum couldn’t pull his eyes away from her. It wasn’t like she wasn’t already gorgeous, but seeing her in her element like this? He was captivated.

Michael dropped by the beach shoot after work each day. He got there right as they were capturing all the golden hour magic, and he couldn’t help but notice how close Rose and Calum were being. Not just in the sense that they seemed to have developed a hive mind for how these shoots were supposed to go, but physically. On one hand, he was glad to see Rose so happy and optimistic again, but he felt bad that he wasn’t really a part of it. Unless getting her in touch with Julie Windsor counted, which it must have for something because she was getting the cover and giving an exclusive interview. That still felt like a level separated from Michael himself. He hated to admit it, but he was feeling left out.

Rose came back from work at the end of the week looking tired but blissful. Both she and Calum had been at a presentation at her office, and Michael wasn’t about to cook by himself no matter how much Rose had taught him, so he was sitting on the couch munching on pizza when they returned. Rose dropped her purse and portfolio on one of the chairs before launching herself onto the couch by Michael’s side and throwing her arms around his neck. “You’re the best ever.” She beamed up at him and he didn’t know what he did to deserve this but he was not upset about it.

“What did I do?”

“Everyone at the magazine loves Julie. She’s all they can talk about. They’re all mad they didn’t get to meet her, and my boss told me he’s setting up a fashion show tomorrow night for the official magazine relaunch event. Obviously you’re invited.”

“To a fashion show?”

Rose squeezed her arms tighter around his neck, pressing her face against his, still smiling. She let go and grabbed a slice of pizza on her way into her bedroom. “Wear a suit.”

Calum had been told he would be the photographer at the fashion show, because they wanted the pictures to have the same vibe as the ones in the magazine. He was dressed in almost all black except for dark red socks peeking out above his shoes. Michael, on the other hand, had taken the instructions to “wear a suit” and done it up as much as possible. He had managed to find a blazer covered in reversible sequins that were black and white one way and gold the other. His shoes were similarly black and gold, and Calum was almost shocked to see that Michael’s legs had a nice shape when he wasn’t wearing baggy sweatpants.

“If it wasn’t nighttime I’d be wearing sunglasses,” Michael informed Calum as they got out of the car.

Rose, in her own blue and silver glamour, had disappeared backstage to make sure everything was running smoothly. Calum quickly got wrapped up in taking pictures of the runway. As soon as the models stepped off the runway, the emcee came back on and announced the magazine’s new director. Calum bit back a rush of bitterness that Rose wasn’t the one getting credit for everything that was happening that night. Everyone stood and applauded, and suddenly Liam Morgenstern was walking on stage, guiding Rose by the hand. Calum almost lowered his camera in confusion before remembering he was supposed to be documenting the night. Rose caught Michael’s eye – or more likely his shiny coat – in the audience and waved as she walked down to the end of the runway where a mic was set up. Calum snapped a wide picture; it would be cute later even if it was just between the three of them.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Liam spoke into the mic in his annoyingly posh British accent. “I would like to thank you all for coming to this relaunch event, and I would also like to introduce you to the woman who made it all happen. Everything you see here today is due to her tireless creativity. Please give it up for Rose Parker.” He stepped aside and let the spotlight fall solely on Rose, who was still staring out into the audience in awe. She waved graciously and said thank you so many times Calum lost count. She was smiling wide and taking deep breaths like she couldn’t believe the moment was real. Calum lifted his camera back up and lined up the shot.


	8. Chapter 8

Michael’s phone went off while he was at the nurses station. _Calum._ He answered it and put on an overly cutesy voice. “Hi babe, miss me so much you had to call me at work?”

“Shut up. I just got asked to do a shoot in New York. For Vogue.”

“Rose is gonna be so jealous.”

“I didn’t tell her that part, obviously. Anyway, they want me to fly out tonight, so I’ll be gone for the next three days. I know tomorrow was my night to cook so I made a lasagna, it’s in the freezer. I gotta go. Bye.”

Calum hung up, leaving Michael to take in the information. Three days that he and Rose were gonna be alone in the apartment. He knew the obvious way to take advantage of that fact, but now that he had the chance, he wasn’t sure what he wanted anymore.

By the time Michael got home, he had come up with some semblance of a plan. By the time Rose got home about half an hour later, the plan was no more developed, but he also hadn’t mentally backed out on it, so that was something.

“What do you mean it has to be a surprise?” Rose asked. She was tapping her fingers on her legs nervously as they drove. “Why is it such a big surprise I have to be blindfolded?”

“Because I want you to be properly surprised,” Michael replied. He glanced over to make sure she wasn’t peeking. “You’re lucky I didn’t make you wear earplugs too.”

“Calum leaves for three days and you lose your mind,” Rose muttered.

Michael let her words sink in as he pulled into the dirt parking lot. He ran around the car and helped Rose out of her seat.

“Please tell me I can take my blindfold off now?”

Michael grinned, untying the scarf wrapped over her eyes. He watched her face light up as she took in the carnival at the edge of the lot. She turned excitedly to Michael and started jumping up and down. “Oh my god oh my god!”

“Good surprise?” he asked.

She stopped jumping and gathered herself enough to give him a straight-faced “We’ll see,” before grabbing his arm and pulling him toward the entrance.

Michael followed her from ride to ride, taking pictures of them everywhere. He posted them all to his story and made sure to catch every moment Rose’s smile was bigger and brighter than the lights around them. The merry-go-round, the rickety roller-coasters, the arcade where Michael had every intention of winning her something but of course she beat him and won a little blue teddy bear, which she proudly carried around for the rest of the night.

On the ferris wheel, Michael was enjoying rattling the carriage back and forth just to see Rose squeal. They stopped at the top, and he pulled out his phone, but paused before taking the picture.

“Hey Rose?” She turned to him, one arm still hugging her bear. “I just wanted to say thank you. For—” Tolerating him? Teaching him to cook? Making his life simultaneously more and less chaotic? “For everything. You’re like the best friend I’ve ever had.”

Rose’s face curled into a pout. “Aww, I love you.” She wrapped her free arm around him and gave him as much of a hug as she could around the seat belt bar over their laps. They heard the attendant close the door on the carriage at the bottom. “One last picture?”

“Obviously.” Michael posted that one to his main feed. Caption: _She said she loves me, you heard it here first_. Rose left a comment as soon as they climbed back into the car, full of funnel cake and soda: _Always_ _💕_

Rose practically leapt into Calum’s arms when he came back from the airport. He had no sooner let go of his suitcase than Rose was hanging off him like a human necklace. “You will not believe what happened at work!” she exclaimed. She put her feet back down on the floor. “Welcome back, by the way.”

Calum couldn’t help but smile at her excitement. “What happened at work?”

“I finally got my promotion!”

“Oh my god congratulations!”

“You are talking to the new editor in chief!” She put her hands on her hips and looked into the distance in a superhero pose.

Calum hugged her and spun her around before putting her back down. “I told you you could do it.”

“Half thanks to you,” she said. “Well, thanks to your camera anyway.”

“All your ideas,” he laughed. “I just helped. So does this fancy new job come with a raise?”

“Yeah?”

“So dinner’s on you?”

Calum, Michael, and Rose were sitting around a table at a fancy restaurant they had all been nervous to try, but Rose wanted a celebration and she had talked Michael into it easily, so they outnumbered Calum’s anxiety at feeling out of place with all these people who looked like they came to places like this for dinner every night. _They_ were used to the cloth napkins folded like seashells and having three different forks for their meals. Nevertheless, the three of them had managed to order and make it through the first two courses without making fools of themselves. Rose excused herself to the bathroom before dessert, leaving Calum and Michael at the table.

Calum didn’t know how to bring it up casually that he was a little disappointed they’d gone to the carnival without him. He hadn’t wanted to upset Rose during her celebration dinner, but he could maybe risk upsetting Michael. “You two had fun at the carnival the other night?”

Michael took a sip of water. “We did.” He looked at Calum, who got the feeling he knew where this was going.

“You couldn’t wait a few more days for me to come too?”

“Just because we’re pretend in love doesn’t mean we have to do everything together.”

Calum’s jaw dropped. He had been kinda sad, not angry, but that was changing quickly. “Is this about you still thinking Rose is hot?”

“She didn’t get less hot,” Michael said, expression unreadable.

“Look, if you mess this up for us, you’re the one who’s gonna get deported. If Rose kicks us out, I am not keeping up this charade for you.”

“She’s not gonna kick us out,” Michael said, finally looking at least slightly sorry. “Anyway, I work late the rest of the week and the carnival leaves on Friday.”

Calum forced himself to take a deep breath, reaching for the last of his champagne. He had to put a happy face back on for when Rose got back.


	9. Chapter 9

Calum smiled to himself as he watched Rose take it all in. The picnic blankets and the sheet hung between two tree branches as a makeshift screen. The stars twinkling above them, luckily without a cloud in sight.

“What’s all this for?” she breathed.

Calum shrugged. “A little extra celebration. For all our hard work.” He gestured to the pillows and blankets on the grass, and Rose pulled her shoes off before sitting down. Calum joined her, unpacking the picnic basket.

“Are those chocolate dipped strawberries?”

“No peeking,” Calum teased. “But yes.”

“You know me too well.”

Calum pressed play on the projector set up on the picnic table behind them, watching recognition set in on Rose’s face as the opening monologue started to play. _This is the story of how I died._ She looked back at Calum, smiling in surprise. “Yeah, I do.”

Right at the beginning of the song _I See The Light_ , Calum got up with the excuse of refilling their drinks, and when he sat back down, he was holding a lantern just like the ones in the movie, down to the flower decals on the sides. Rose took it in her hands gently, and Calum pulled a lighter from his back pocket.

“Shut up,” Rose said.

“You’re ruining the moment,” Calum laughed. Rose held the lantern up so Calum could light the bottom of it, and they watched it glow in their hands for a few moments before letting it go and watching it float up into the night sky. He had to stop himself from singing with the movie if only so he could hear Rose’s voice better as she softly sang along, almost like she was unaware she was even doing it. She was still looking up at the sky, where their lantern had faded into a spot the size of a star. “Are you crying?” Calum asked.

“No,” she replied unconvincingly.

Calum put one of his arms around her, pulling her close, smiling when she leaned her head on his shoulder.

Michael got home at nearly 11 and Rose and Calum were nowhere to be found. He had an uneasy feeling that they were together, but instead of asking the group chat, he only asked Rose. _Late night?_

 _Movie with Calum,_ came the reply. _He made us a picnic and we watched Tangled in the park, it was beautiful I’ll tell you all about it later. On our way home now._

A picnic in the park with Calum watching her favorite movie. Was this some kind of payback for leaving him out when they went to the carnival? As if he hadn’t spent enough time alone with her when they were working together? And now, albeit by Michael’s own invitation, Rose was gushing to him about it? Michael had already had a rough day at work. He hated working late, much preferring to be able to come home and relax while eating dinner instead of yawning his way through it. And now not only was he stuck with leftovers, he had to hear about how perfect her night with Calum was while pretending not to be upset about it. He decided to forego the leftovers and went straight to bed, making sure his lights were out before they got home.

“I was kinda looking forward to an early night,” Michael said to Rose on Saturday morning. “You may remember I’ve been working late all week?”

Rose sat down next to him at the table. “Come on, please? It’s a charity auction for work and I’ll look better if I bring friends.”

“Take Calum.” He didn’t know why he was being short with Rose when Calum was the one he was mad at, but he hadn’t spoken to Calum for two days, so the anger must have bubbled over to her.

“Oh he’s already coming. But I really want you to come too.” Michael looked up from his toast to see Rose begging with her hands clasped together. “Please?”

“Okay. But you have to tell me what to wear. I’m running out of formal clothes to wear to your work events.”

“We’ll figure something out.”

The three of them were sitting at a table together once again, but this time, since they were all facing the stage, Michael made sure Rose was sitting between him and Calum.

“We’ll be starting the auction in about fifteen minutes, so please take advantage of the open bar until then.”

“So,” Rose said. “Why aren’t you two talking?”

“We’re talking,” Calum said flatly.

“Yeah, we’re talking right now,” Michael replied, equally dejected.

“No, you’re talking to me. Talk to each other. Whatever’s wrong, you two can work it out, right?” Michael wasn’t so sure.

“You want to know what’s wrong?” Calum asked. Michael snapped his head up to look at him.

“Yeah, I do,” Rose said encouragingly.

Calum looked Michael in the eye pointedly before turning back to Rose. “Michael is cheating on me.”

“What?” Rose and Michael said at the same time.

“With who?” Rose asked.

“One of the doctors at his hospital.”

Michael was kind of offended, both at the accusation that he found any of the stuffy doctors he worked with attractive, and at the idea that he would cheat on anyone at all.

“Michael, is that true?” Rose asked him.

“Why are you asking him?” Calum said, being a little more dramatic than before and tugging on her arm so she turned back around to face him. “Of course it’s true, I saw his texts.”

“Why were you looking at my phone?” Michael asked reflexively, immediately realizing that was a ridiculous question, and not one that made him look any less guilty.

“He goes to work every day and stays late to play Grey’s Anatomy with his coworkers and I’m left at home wondering why I wasn’t enough for him.” Calum was starting to sound a little hysterical, and Michael wondered who this performance was for.

“That’s not true!” Michael said, a little louder than he intended. The people at the next table turned to look at them and Rose gave them a polite wave before shushing them both. “I would never cheat on you,” he hissed at Calum.

“Sure seems like you would,” Calum whispered back angrily.

“Why would I do that when you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me?” Michael said loudly. He knew he was imagining it, since the auction hadn’t started yet, but he felt the room go quiet. He exhaled and got up to go to the bar. If he was going to redeem this night in any way, it wasn’t going to be without a few drinks.

He was at the bar waiting for his drink when Rose appeared next to him.

“I’m sorry for yelling,” Michael mumbled. The bartender handed him his drinks and he passed one to her.

“I don’t think I’m the one you should be apologizing to,” Rose said.

“I didn’t cheat on Calum,” he said earnestly.

“I believe you,” she said. “I think he believes you too.”

He better, Michael thought to himself, considering it was all a lie anyway. Even so, the idea that maybe Calum wasn’t mad at him anymore made him feel a little better.

“I’m gonna go say hi to a few people before this thing starts and I want you two to make up by then,” Rose said.

Michael walked back to the table after picking up an old fashioned for Calum. He placed the drink in front of him without a word and took his seat.

“Thanks,” Calum said quietly, making a face. “Sorry I lied about you cheating on me.”

“That’s a weird ass sentence,” Michael replied.

Calum quirked his lips into a half smile. “You’re right. I’m also sorry for getting mad at you for taking Rose to the carnival without me. I get why you didn’t have time to wait around for me to get back.”

Michael wasn’t about to admit he did it partly to get a reaction out of Calum. “Thanks.”

“We’re good?” Calum held up his glass and reached it out toward Michael.

Michael let himself grin and lifted own glass up to meet Calum’s.


	10. Chapter 10

Now that Michael wasn’t working late anymore, their nights went back to looking like normal. Rose would come home and complain about not wanting to cook dinner, and then when Michael attempted it, she would end up having to step in and finish the job. To be fair to him, he was actually starting to get better, and Rose’s role went from fixing things to reassuring him that he was doing fine on his own. She would hop up onto the counter and “supervise” in her words while Michael dashed around the kitchen leaving his phone with the recipe open in various places every time he had to find a different ingredient.

Calum came home from a shoot one afternoon when Michael was cooking dinner and opened the fridge to find Michael’s phone on the shelf, still open to a recipe for pizza dough. “Dude.” He handed the phone back to Michael and grabbed himself a seltzer.

“Sorry,” was all Michael had to say about it. He was stirring tomato sauce on the stove. “What do you want on your pizza?”

“Anything except mushrooms,” Calum said, sitting down on the couch.

“I was being polite. Let me finish this sauce and you’re making your pizza yourself.”

“Where’s Rose?”

“At a meeting. I wanted to surprise her with the fact that I can actually cook something without her telling me what to do.”

“But you said I was making my own?” Calum asked indignantly.

“You’re adding your own toppings, but I’m making all the parts of it. Unless you want to help?”

Calum sighed and got up. “What do you want me to do?”

Each of them took a cutting board and a vegetable, and they ended up with two neat little piles of peppers and onions.

“I can’t believe how much you’re crying right now,” Michael laughed.

“I hate chopping onions,” Calum said, blinking away tears as he washed his hands.

“So do I, that’s why I asked you to do it.”

“You suck.” Calum wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

“Help me roll out the pizza dough?”

“Is that gonna make me cry too?”

“Oh what, do you want me to kiss it and make it better?” Michael asked facetiously.

“Wouldn’t hurt,” Calum retorted, leaving Michael without a response. He settled for an eye roll.

After rolling out the pizza dough, with a casual attempt at tossing it that ended up with Michael’s share sitting on the floor for a couple seconds, Rose got home and they loaded their pizzas up with all the toppings they could find. Calum added Sriracha to his, Rose found a jar of pesto in the fridge to top hers with, and Michael’s competitiveness ended with him adding a swirl of ranch dressing to the top of his.

“What?” he asked when Rose and Calum made faces. “I dip my pizza crusts in ranch all the time.”

“But that’s when the ranch is cold!” Rose said, looking genuinely worried. “You don’t cook ranch dressing.”

Michael looked down at the oven, suddenly less confident in his decision.

“It’ll probably be fine,” Calum said. He was not convincing.

“Yeah, like warm buttermilk,” Rose said softly, making Calum laugh. She once again slid Michael’s phone toward him on the counter and went into the living room.

Michael groaned and put his face in his hands. Calum giggled. He stepped closer to Michael and pulled his hands away from his face. “As adorable as you are when you’re all pouty,” Calum said, “It _will_ be fine.” Michael’s stomach was doing some sort of gymnastics routine. Calum squeezed Michael’s hands before letting them go and joining Rose in the living room.

Calum had gotten into the habit of sending Michael goodnight texts. It started when he’d left for an out of town shoot that happened to be on the west coast. Calum had known Michael had to work early, so even though he knew Michael would have stayed awake later to respond to his inane messages, he forced himself to set Michael’s bedtime with a simple text goodnight. It also served as a reminder to himself not to keep sending every mundane thought that went through his head when he wasn’t on the job. He couldn’t help but admit that despite the ridiculous jokes and relentless teasing, he enjoyed talking to Michael a lot more than he realized, and he missed the banter when he had to go without it for a few days. Michael had, in turn, started sending him good morning texts. Sometimes, particularly on days off, they didn’t come in till afternoon, but that was even more endearing.

Rose’s workload had gotten heavier with New York Fashion Week creeping closer, which meant she was having lunch meetings that went well into the afternoon, followed by dinner meetings that had her out until midnight some nights. Calum had gotten used to trading off cooking nights with Michael, but every now and then their schedules would line up so that they could cook together. Calum swore his heart melted when he accidentally cut his finger while trying to mince garlic and Michael ran to his room insisting he had a bandaid in his scrubs.

“You realize this isn’t a life or death situation, right?” Calum asked as Michael wrapped the bandaid around his finger.

“Could get infected,” Michael said seriously. “Could have to get your whole finger taken off.”

“But that’s my camera focusing finger.”

“You can’t lose that.”

In a wave of endearment, Calum felt like he could kiss Michael right then. He shook his head like that would get rid of the feeling.

After dinner, he facetimed his sister.

“What’s up?” she answered.

“I’m straight, right?”

She blinked. “What?”

“Am I?”

“I don’t think I can answer that?” she said slowly.

“But like, I have to be, right?”

“What are you talking about?” She must have seen the distress on his face. “Calm down. No one says you _have_ to be straight. But what happened?”

“I cut my finger.”

“And that made you gay?”

“Am I?”

“Again, I can’t answer that for you,” she said patiently. “What happened after you cut your finger?”

“Michael ran to get me a bandaid so my finger doesn’t get infected and they have to cut it off.”

“Gross.”

“That’s what happened!”

“Then what?”

“Then I felt like maybe I wanted to kiss him?” His voice got smaller as he spoke, as if he himself was shrinking into some tiny space where he could hide from his own thoughts, and more importantly, from his sister who was staring at him through his phone.

Her face softened into an expression far less confused. “I’m no authority, but I think you shouldn’t overthink it.”

“But? I?” Calum stammered, reaching for words that didn’t want to be found.

“See what happens next,” she said softly. “And don’t worry about labels for now.”

“Okay,” Calum said quietly.

“Please, Cal, I know how you get when you worry. But this isn’t something to worry about. I promise.”

Calum had no choice but to trust her.

Michael was sitting on the couch later that night. Rose was lying across the couch with her feet up on Michael’s lap. She was watching a movie, but he couldn’t seem to focus on it.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Just thinking,” he replied.

“About what?”

“Pizza,” he lied.

“Fine, don’t tell me.” She went back to watching the movie, but her eyes kept darting over to him.

Michael weighed his options. He could keep quiet about it, maybe listen to music later and post vague lyrics, or he could tell her the truth. After all, she assumed it was the truth anyway, it’s not like she was gonna go tell people like it was a new secret. The safest place to put an admission like this was with someone who wouldn’t give it a second thought, right? Plus, Calum was in his room with the door closed. He sighed, knowing it would bring Rose’s attention back to him, which it did.

“Come on,” Rose said, sitting up and taking her feet off his lap. “What are you thinking about?”

“Calum,” he said in a small voice.

Rose blinked up at him. “What about Calum?”

“I just really like him,” Michael said, looking at nothing in particular, but not looking at Rose.

She wrapped her arms around him. “You’re cute, you know that?”

“No, I mean I like when he pretends to be grumpy about helping me roll pizza dough, I like when he buys me coffee every time he comes back from a run, I like when he makes fun of me for losing at video games I brag about being good at.”

“Oh you’re in love, don’t rub it in,” Rose said, letting go of him but still smiling. She went back to watching her movie. “We can’t all be so lucky.”


	11. Chapter 11

Michael typed and erased, typed and erased, before simply sending good morning along with a picture of the coffee he had picked up for Calum. He leaned back into the couch. Rose’s car had stopped working that morning, and instead of waiting half an hour for a service to even tell her what was wrong with it, Michael had offered to drive her to work. He had acted like he’d woken up early so she wouldn’t worry about him, but he’d been up all night playing a game. He knew what he needed wasn’t coffee but a nap, but Calum, who was better about sleeping on time, would probably wake up around when he got back home.

Sure enough, Calum walked out of his room as soon as Michael sent the picture. “You’re up earlier than me on your day off?”

“Never slept,” he admitted, sitting up and picking up his drink.

“What? Why? Tell me you weren’t playing some stupid game all night.”

“Wasn’t stupid,” he said defensively, but he knew Calum was right.

“You can’t keep doing that,” Calum said, reaching for his coffee. He stared at the label. “You got my order right?”

“Yeah?” Michael said. He was bad at sleeping on time but he wasn’t _that_ forgetful.

Calum had a weird look on his face. “Not just my regular order though, this is like my fancy, treat myself order.”

“Yeah?” Michael repeated.

“I’m so fucking picky.”

“What’s your point?” Michael asked.

Calum shrugged. “Didn’t know you knew my order.” He took a sip and pointed to Michael’s cup. “Are you gonna drink that and then stay awake all day?”

Michael sighed, letting himself sink back into the cushions. “Hope not,” he said.

Next thing he knew, he was waking up, the clock said it was 2 pm, and he was covered with a blanket he certainly hadn’t put there himself. He looked around for his coffee, instead finding a note that said _I put your coffee in the fridge, don’t worry I strained the ice out so it wouldn’t water down, C._

Michael burrowed deeper into the blanket and smiled to himself, folding the note up neatly and sticking it in his pocket.

Mali finally returned Calum’s facetime call.

“Am I bi?” he asked as soon as he picked up.

“Is this just how you’re planning on starting conversations from now on?” she asked him. “Anyway, for the last time, I can’t answer that for you.”

Calum looked at his phone in despair, as if his sister, or even the internet as a whole, owed him answers.

“What happened this time?”

“He memorized my coffee order.”

She smiled. “Okay, see that’s so much more relatable than cutting your finger off. It means he pays attention.”

“I know he pays attention. I just didn’t know he cared.”

“I’m not gonna pretend I know the difference. Look, if you like him, why don’t you tell him?”

“Because he’s asleep.”

“When he wakes up, idiot.”

Calum was sure his desperation was written clear across his face. “He doesn’t like me back. We’re pretending to be in a relationship. We’re married for fuck’s sake. There’s no way.”

“I warned you about getting carried away. Granted this isn’t what I meant, but my point stands.” Calum closed his eyes and let his phone drop flat onto his desk. “But, maybe he’s pretending to pretend too.”

He picked his phone back up. “What do you mean?”

“Believe me, I’m not trying to get your hopes up for no reason, but what if there’s a chance he feels the same way you do?”

Michael was once again in the kitchen after work, and Rose had gotten home early but was still on the phone with someone who sounded important. “Rose,” he whispered loudly, waving at her to get her attention. She turned to look at him. “Did you see where I left my phone?”

“Yeah, we can definitely fit her into next month’s issue,” Rose said. She glanced around the kitchen and then opened the pantry door, grabbing his phone off the top of a jar of flour. She looked down at it and went to hand it to him, but pulled it back to her. “Sorry, can you give me just a minute?” she said into the phone. Muting her phone, she held Michael’s back out to him. “What is this?” she asked him, the same look on her face as when she scrolled through Instagram looking at pictures of baby animals.

Michael looked down at his phone. It was certainly not the recipe he had been following. He must have forgotten to switch back over to it. His eyes ran over the familiar words of the list he had been keeping for the past couple of weeks. He felt himself blush when he realized Rose had quickly figured out what it was.

“I cannot believe you keep a list of reasons you love Calum, that’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s really not, I mean, I just,” he dithered for a moment before closing his mouth.

Rose just smiled and went back to her phone call.

Despite being embarrassed at getting caught, he was surprised to find out what he felt even more was a sense of pride. He was doing exactly what she said, and for the first time, he realized he was okay with it. He was okay with being seen in whatever hopeless romantic state he was in, because it was real. It was the truest he had been to himself in so long.

Michael and Calum stared at the piece of paper they had just received. “Would you look at that,” Michael said. “We’re officially gay.”

Calum chuckled. “Guess we are. And now that you can live here legally, you don’t need me anymore.”

“Okay first of all that’s not how this works. And second, I’m never not gonna need you, you’re one of my best friends.”

“Someone has to keep the place from burning down when you make toast.”

“That was one time,” Michael said, shoving him away. “Need I remind you, Rose said she likes my cooking now.”

“She’s always liked my cooking,” Calum said smugly.

“Shut up, I changed my mind. I don’t need you.”

Calum laughed and gave Michael a hug. “Fine I’ll admit it, you can cook.”

“You’re the worst,” Michael said, voice slightly muffled by Calum’s shoulder.


	12. Chapter 12

One afternoon, a dreary, humid day where it refused to rain, Rose walked into the apartment and straight out to the balcony. Calum and Michael exchanged a look before following her out.

“Is everything okay?” Calum ventured.

“You tell me.” Rose turned around. “How long did you think you could keep this up?”

Calum looked at Michael. Michael looked petrified.

“Are you two actually in love?” Rose asked.

Calum’s stomach dropped. He didn’t know which answer was worse. If he said yes, Michael would know. If he said no, Rose would know they’d lied at the start. If he said yes and Michael said no, they would both think he was lying, but worse than that, he didn’t know if he could take the truth from Michael just yet.

“Silence says it all, doesn’t it?” Rose asked acidly. “You’re wondering how I know? I ran into your sister downtown. Well, I didn’t actually talk to her, but she and her hubby were talking about you and I was on my way over to say hello but then she said something interesting about this lie her little brother was living, and I couldn’t help but listen in.”

“Rose, we wanted to tell you—” Calum started.

“But you didn’t, did you?” Rose asked, voice less steady. “Tell me this though, because something doesn’t add up.” She marched up to Michael and poked him in the chest. “Why have you been going on like you’re some loved up idiot for the last month? I thought it was cute but it was all just to sell a lie?”

Michael didn’t respond, apparently frozen. Calum tried to answer for him, but Rose snapped her fingers to shut him up.

“You two have until the end of the week to move out.” Rose huffed and glared at Calum as she walked past them back into the house and into her room.

Calum looked at Michael again, but Michael closed his eyes and turned away from him, looking like he was wiping away tears and then retreating to his room as well.

Calum was close to crying himself. What could Rose possibly have overheard that was so incriminating? As if he hadn’t spent the last month gushing to his sister about how maybe he was actually falling for Michael, and maybe this thing that started out as a lie had more truth to it than he ever thought. He could go back to his room too, but that wasn’t going to solve anything. If he was going to fix any of this, and if his sister was right and he did have a tiny shot at getting Michael for real, then it wasn’t going to happen with him moping around his room for the rest of the week. He grabbed his wallet and keys from his room and walked out the front door, resigning himself to a short cry in the car if it came to it.

Michael had been lying facedown in his bed for what felt like hours. His tears were all dried up but his body didn’t seem to know that, sending him rushes of heartbreak every few seconds. He was stupid to think this lie would work, and he was even more stupid to think he and Calum would work. He’d heard the front door close, which meant either Rose had left in her anger, or more likely that Calum had. He didn’t want to risk peeking through the bathroom door to check. He pulled out his phone and thumbed through until he found his mom’s number. He didn’t care about his residency anymore, he just wanted to go home.

Calum knocked on his sister’s door, rain running down his face as it dripped from his hair, feeling strange at having to wait outside a door that used to be his. She opened it and clearly was expecting someone carrying food and not him.

“You have to help me,” Calum said.

He got back into his car an hour later, clothes still damp from the rain, but at least it had stopped for the 30 seconds it took him to run from the building to his car. As sorry as he was, and for how badly he wanted to take the blame for the whole scheme so that Rose would only be mad at him and not Michael, this wasn’t something he could do on his own.

Michael was about to call his mom when a text popped up from Calum. _We need to talk._

 _Not in the mood,_ he replied.

_Doesn’t matter, this is important. Meet me downstairs in 10._

Michael poked his head out of his room, making sure he wouldn’t have to face Rose and an awkward silence as he snuck out the front door. He realized his mistake to only pull on a hoodie and not something that would keep the rain out as he dashed out the front door and into Calum’s passenger seat. Once he sat down though, he didn’t know what to say. He felt like someone had a chokehold on his throat. If he didn’t look down and see that his chest was rising and falling with every breath, he might have had his doubts.

Calum didn’t drive anywhere, so they sat there wordlessly, letting the patter of the rain on the windows fill the silence. “I’m sorry I got you into this,” he said finally.

“I had as much say in it as you did,” Michael replied quietly.

“No, I’m sorry I let this go so far. I got in my own head, convinced myself… doesn’t matter. But I know how we can try to fix it.”

Michael was still stuck on the longing look in Calum’s eyes at the start. “What do you mean you got in your own head?”

Calum stared out the front of the car, hands still on the wheel even though they weren’t moving. “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“Too late,” Michael said, forgetting for half a second that they were kind of in the middle of the biggest disaster of his life.

Calum let out a sad laugh. “I kept telling myself maybe I got too into pretending, but I don’t think I am anymore.”

A crash of thunder made them both jump, giving Michael a chance to try to understand what Calum was saying. Suddenly his heart was pounding, and it wasn’t from the storm. “Pretending to?” _To be gay? To like Michael more than he let on?_

Calum turned away from Michael. “Pretending to love you.”

This time Michael’s heart was the thing that crashed. He felt like he’d just run headfirst into a wall and kept going. “You, you—”

“Please don’t hate me,” Calum said, turning back to him, eyes watering.

“Hate you?” Michael breathed. “But I love you too.”

“What?” Single tears were rolling down Calum’s cheeks.

Michael didn’t even try to stop himself from reaching out to brush them away. “I guess I should have told you sooner?” Calum leaned over the center console to pull Michael into an aggressive hug. “Now what?”

Calum pulled back. “Well, to start.” He leaned in and kissed Michael’s lips so softly at first he wasn’t sure it actually happened. Michael blinked at him. Their noses were nearly touching. Michael’s hands found their way back to Calum’s face and pulled him closer for another kiss, a real one that felt like nothing he’d ever felt before. The rain faded into silence, and he swore he felt the ground disappear under them.

When they finally let go of each other, Michael’s head was spinning like it was filled with helium. “I can’t believe this.”

“There’s just one more thing to take care of.”


	13. Chapter 13

Calum had learned from Rose’s receptionist that she was supposed to go to a fashion show Wednesday night at a fancy hotel downtown. That meant he and Michael had two days to call people and convince them to help make this thing work. He asked his sister to reach out to her creative friends to loan them pieces for the night, and models if they could spare any. Of course the designers could model their own work. They didn’t have the luxury of being picky. He also asked her to gather as many people as she knew to fill the room as an audience. The first thing he did Wednesday morning was have Michael call Rose’s receptionist and tell her that she’d come down with a bad case of food poisoning, so could they get someone else to cover the show? Thanks. Calum was on the phone with the hotel asking if there was any way they could make one of their bigger conference rooms available for a smaller fashion show that same night, yes it had to be that night, no it was not affiliated with the bigger brands that were using the ballroom. They could do it? Great.

Calum felt like he was a kid again, hiding behind a large potted fern in the hotel lobby to keep lookout for Rose. When she walked in, he texted Michael that it was ready to go. Michael signaled to the bellhop they had convinced to play along as the host for the fashion show, with the promise of a nice tip at the end of it all. Calum followed Rose at a distance, making sure she went into the right room before slipping into the next conference room that they were using as a backstage area since it had a sliding room separator that they could creep through to get to the makeshift runway.

“You’re sure we can do this?” Michael asked, grabbing Calum’s hand for reassurance as soon as he was close enough.

“Look at this,” Calum gestured around them, where ten women were walking around like it was a craft show, complimenting each other on their handmade accessories. “If nothing else, they’re all getting great exposure from it.”

“But what if it makes Rose hate us even more? And what if the rest of the audience don’t want to go along with it?”

“She can’t hate us more. We just have to prove we’re not lying anymore.”

“You never told me, why didn’t you tell her that night that we weren’t lying?”

“Because I was scared. I didn’t know if you felt the same, and I thought it would hurt worse to have you mad at me than her.”

“You didn’t _know_?” Michael asked incredulously.

“Did you?”

“No, but I’m so much worse at hiding things.”

“Then I’m just clueless.”

“Okay that might be true.”

The bellhop was doing a better job than they had expected. They had handed him rushed cue cards explaining each designer’s items just an hour before, all in scribbled handwriting from the creators themselves, but he had managed to memorize most of the general phrases. It almost sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

Calum had to keep pulling Michael away from the side of the runway just behind the curtains they had set up. It would all fall apart if Rose realized this show wasn’t real. In that regard the show was going pretty well, because it truly did feel like a fashion show. The bellhop announced they would be taking a short break before inviting the designers out for a little Q&A, and that there was going to be a special performance in the meantime. Calum took a deep breath, holding up his mic.

“Rose?” he said.

Rose looked up at him and Michael standing on the stage, first surprised, then angry, then quickly embarrassed. “What are you doing here?” she asked, eyes wide. “Get down from there!”

“We want to apologize to you,” Calum continued. “We’re sorry we lied.”

“We were assholes,” Michael leaned over and said into the mic.

“And you still are,” Rose hissed. “Get off the stage before you get in trouble!”

“We lied to you, pretended to be a couple, and we’ll do anything it takes to get you to forgive us.”

“Fuckboys,” someone said in the audience, causing a ripple of snickers.

“You see Rose,” Michael said, taking the mic from Calum. “The thing is, we’re not pretending anymore.”

“What are you talking about?” Rose asked, giving up on stopping them.

“We are together. Like for real.”

“What?”

Calum stepped up to stand beside Michael, wrapping an arm around his waist.

“Prove it!” someone else in the audience yelled. A few people clapped and cheered.

Calum turned to look at Michael, who hastily pulled out his phone.

“Rose, you remember this list you saw weeks ago?” Michael held up his phone as if she could read it all the way from her seat. “I’ve added to it since then. You know the last thing on this list of reasons I love Calum? It’s that he loves me back.”

The audience aww-ed like a Greek chorus. Calum, who hadn’t heard of this list until that moment, felt his heart overflow.

“And you expect me to believe you?” Rose asked.

“Kiss him!” an audience member called, and everyone sitting nearby cheered.

Michael tensed beside Calum. “We don’t have to,” Calum whispered in his ear. Michael turned his head around to look at Calum, and then glanced at Rose before taking a breath and crashing his lips to Calum’s, nearly knocking them both over. He felt Michael’s arms wrapping around his neck and their bodies pressing against each other, a little surprised he had the presence of mind in the moment to keep his hands on Michael’s back without letting them wander. When he opened his eyes, Michael was blinking up at him, cheeks slightly pink, and he couldn’t help but smile back. He turned to look at Rose hopefully. She was trying not to smile as she wiped away a tear.

“So?” Michael asked. “Accept our apology?”

Rose looked around, and then back up at Calum and Michael. She left her things on her seat and stepped up on stage. “You’re still assholes. And you can’t lie to me ever again.”

“Never,” Michael said.

“Promise,” Calum agreed.

“Fine. I’m un-kicking you out.” She smiled at them hesitantly before hugging them both. “One condition. I get to come to your real wedding.” If Calum’s stomach erupted with butterflies, no one had to know.

Two months later, Michael had gotten so used to sleeping in Calum’s bed that he was surprised when he reached over to find he was alone. He opened his eyes and stretched before remembering. The rest of the room was mostly empty, save for a few boxes and a shelf. It was moving day. He unplugged his phone and texted Calum a sunrise emoji.

Calum appeared in the doorway, nursing a mug of coffee. “Morning, sunshine.” Michael made grabby hands at Calum, who walked over and gave Michael a kiss good morning. “You said you were gonna get up over an hour ago.”

“I did?” Michael asked.

Calum nodded. “I said we had to get up and you said okay and then next thing I know you’re asleep again.”

“I don’t think I was ever awake.”

“Clearly not. But come on, our new place is waiting for us.”

Michael followed Calum into the living room, suddenly nostalgic for his room, which had already been packed up.

“What do you look so sad about?” Calum asked him.

“Moving out is sad.”

“It’s not _that_ sad.”

“It is too sad,” Rose said, giving Michael a hug.

“Thank you. See?” he said to Calum.

Calum just rolled his eyes. “We’re literally just moving down two floors. We can come back up every night for dinner if we want.”

“Maybe not _every_ night…” Rose said. “What? I’m kinda looking forward to living alone again.”

Michael hugged Rose tighter and tilted his head down so his cheek was resting on top of her head. “I’m gonna miss you. I don’t know about Calum though.”

Calum looked offended but walked around to hug Rose on her other side, smiling cutely when his face ended up close to Michael’s. “I’m gonna miss you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cue lover of mine*


End file.
